Asexual Reproduction

The type of reproduction in which fusion of male and female gamete is not needed but takes place from same vegetative part of the body is called asexual reproduction.

Types of asexual reproduction:

• Fission: The type of reproduction in which one individual divide itself into two or more daughter individual by some mechanism is called fission. It is of two types:
  • Binary fission: The asexual reproduction in which one organism divides into two daughter organisms is called binary fission. This type of reproduction generally occurs in Amoeba, Euglena, Paramecium etc.

    

    
    

    

  • Multiple fission: The asexual reproduction in which one organism divides into many daughter organisms is called multiple fission. This type of reproduction generally occurs in Plasmodium (malaria parasite) and Chlamydomonas.

    

    

• Budding: During budding, a small end produced on the body of organism grows fully and is detached from the main body part after maturity and starts living on its own, is called budding.

  

• Fragmentation and regeneration

  • Fragmentation: When a long plant body divides into various fragments because of different effects, they start to spread independent life. This is called fragmentation. E.g. Spirogyra

    

    
  • Regeneration: When an organism is divided into two, each part can regenerate into a new individual this process is called regeneration. It is very common in animalslikehydra, tapeworm,Planeria etc.

    

• Sporulation: Most of the non-flowering plants like mucor, mushroom, bacteria produce spores inside their sporangia. The spores are small, light unicellular reproductive structures formed by meiosis. The spores are released out by bursting. Such spores germinate under favorable conditions.

  

  
• Vegetative propagation: The reproduction, which generally occurs only in plants from various vegetative organs like root, stem, leaves etc. through the process of cutting, grafting, layering etc., is called vegetative propagation. E.g. through root: sweet potato, mint etc., through leaves:poryophylumbegania etc., through stem: sugarcane, ginger etc. (See more on Test yourself)

  

  

Advantages of vegetative propagation

• The plants, which do not produce viable seeds, can be easily propagated by this method. For example, banana, rose, sugarcane potato etc.
• The plants produced by vegetative propagation bear flowers and fruit earlier than those produced from seed do. E.g. orange, lemon, mango etc.
• It is a cheap and rapid method relative to a long period of seed dormancy.
• It gives rise to genetically uniform population, the clone.

Advantages of asexual reproduction

• It does not need any particular environment as a single individual involves in it. Thus, it is a rapid and cheap method of reproduction.
• It helps to produce groups of quality organisms.
• Offspring produced by this method get ready for further reproduction fast.